Pregnancy hormones are a fluke :)

There is currently an orphan crisis in our world with more than 140 million children without parents. Not everyone is called to adopt, but you can do something. We all have a way to help the orphans as we have been commanded to do. Before Jesus  descended to Heaven, He told them "I will not leave you as orphans,  I will come to you."  He was telling his people he would never leave them lonely. It is our job to help Him fulfill His promise. We are Jesus' hands and feet. In 1Corinthians He tells us of He being the head of the church. We are then the hands and feet. He has no problem comforting or providing, but we can help Him do so much more. He needs our help! If we love Him like we say we do, we will strive to be His "side kick", "partner" and FRIEND. When my friends need help, I immediately reach out and help them. Jesus deserves much more from us.  Jesus told us that anytime we love a child we love Him. There are many ways to help an orphan so here are some tips :) Our adoption agency, CCAI, has a link on their page so you can sponsor a child. Our little Joy Jiao has been sponsored and will continue to be until we get her. There is a precious angel out there that I would give anything to meet. I would be so grateful to be able to let them know how much we appreciate them showing their love to her. It would be very special to us, but we will never know their identity. They are donating 50.00 a month to her to help her in any way she needs help. They send you pictures quarterly with updated info on your child. Ccaifamily.org is the website. You can also send a one time donation through ccaifamily.org lovewithoutboundaries.com, showhope.org, 147millionorphans.com, and many others. I truly have 100%trust in these charities listed above. Some have apparel you can purchase, such as 147 million orphans and lovewithoutboundaries.  The money from ONE SHIRT feeds an orphan for a week. With CCAI sponsorship program you can pay the money and they will put it toward what is needed greatest. If there is something particular you want the child to have, they will get it. Through love without boundaries, you can sponsor surgery, foster care, education, healing homes, or nutrition. Each agency has a different sponsorship fee, but most are 30.00-50.00 per month. You can always pray for the orphans, birthparents, pastors and churches to help, nannies, orphanage directors, and foster families. We all have a purpose. We were called to adopt and did NOT see it coming. I had always wanted to adopt, but after having three children I was finished. I was 100% finished! On our mission trip everything changed and I couldn't believe what I was feeling. The Lord let us both know that we were extremely blessed to have three healthy children. We needed to "pass it on" to grow our family. I cannot wait to parent yet another child. I cannot wait to share many many "firsts" with her that most children have already had by six years old. I have learned something that hit me today. I think the pregnancy "hormone" kick is a fluke. I am not pregnant, but I have been before! I have, so far, went through the exact stages of "pregnancy" this time around. I get ill because it is all frustrating. It is hard to love someone and not be able to embrace them, talk to them, know they are ok physically, emotionally, and to not be able to tell them you love them. I get ill. It is part of it. I am exhausted both physically and emotionally. It is hard balancing three children, work, housework, mountains of paperwork, online training, home studies,etc , etc. I am just physically and emotionally drained. It will get worse, but I cannot imagine. It is Ezra's night to sleep with us since Justin is off tomorrow. We usually let the kids each have a special night. One kid a week! Haha! I laid down tonight with Ezra being  in the middle and all it took was me touching his heart and I totally lost it. I had to get up. His heart is so healthy. I could feel it pushing his blood throughout his little body and I was overcome with thanksgiving. I had to get up! So, here I sit at eleven p.m. in an emotional state of thanksgiving and heartbreak. Isn't that just like pregnancy? I remember worrying about delivery, wondering if the doctors missed a diagnosis with my child, and I even was emotional about the world they were coming into. Today, I am worrying about Joy Jiao's delivery into my arms, a misses diagnosis and the world she came from. The same. Families are brought together by love. Today, we got a surprise!!!! In the mail came a packet from CCAI! It was her file we reviewed. It is the original copies from China and the translations of everything they have about Joy Jiao. It also came with all her precious pictures. Since these images weren't scanned and therefore weren't  fuzzy,  I stared and stared at the clear pics. I could also tell Minnie Mouse socks were peeking through the top of her little Mary Jane shoes. :) Her hair looks so soft  and her skin is smooth as silk. I cannot wait to eat her up :) I want to paint her a pic that says "I could eat you up, I love you so." She would be terrified!!! Haha! She will be more terrified when she hears her Baba" laugh! :) I told the kids that "Baba" is "daddy" in Chinese. I explained that I knew it would be weird and if they were ok with it. Eli proudly said "BABA IT IS!". He already has the mind-set that anything goes for his "Mei Mei"! We have tried talking them through many tough things kids and GROWN UPS might say that are hurtful or inappropriate. Anna and Ezra are accepting of the tools we have given them. Eli only pounds his fists. It cracks us up! He is one protective big brother!!!!